About 30 employees of Cherokee Pharmaceuticals will lose their jobs as the facility ceases its contract fermentation operations in September. The decision was announced in a press release issued Tuesday by Cherokee’s parent company, Merck. Merck announced in 2011 its plans to sell or close the Cherokee plant’s fermentation facility as part of global consolidation effort. No sale agreement has been reached. In August, Merck announced it was going to cut 13,000 jobs worldwide, including 5,000 in U.S. facilities.